NEB new kit offers plant breeders a more targeted high-throughput solution using novel target enrichment technology

Date:10-17-2019

Today, New England Biolabs (NEB®) announced the launch of the NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution, representing the first capture-based approach for high-throughput genotyping for a wide variety of applications in Agricultural Biotechnology (AgBio).

"We are excited to introduce the NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution, which was initially developed to address the demands of marker-assisted plant breeders for a cost-effective, high-throughput genotyping method," said Andrew Barry, Sr. Manager of Global Business Development at NEB. "The stringent requirements of plant breeding forced us to push the limits on reducing the cost per assay, while maintaining high-specificity for the target markers, resulting in a product with a wide range of utility"

The NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution combines highly multiplexed, capture-based enrichment with maximum efficiency and next generation sequencing (NGS) to deliver a one day, automatable genotyping workflow. Applicable for marker ranges spanning 100 to 5,000 markers, pre-capture multiplexing of up to 96 samples, in addition to dual-indexed UMI sequencing, allows for more than 3.8 million genotypes in a single Illumina® sequencing run.

Derived from the NEBNext Direct capture-based target enrichment technology, the genotyping solution uses efficient capture probe design, allowing for improved sequencer efficiency and reduced reagent use, thus further reducing assay costs.

"For our daily work, we needed a technology that stands out in robustness, quality of data, multiplexing level, flexibility and throughput," said Richard Feron, Senior Molecular Biology Researcher at Enza Zaden Research and Development. "We found all of that in the NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution."

According to Tereza Borba, PhD, a molecular breeder in the Advanced Biology laboratory at Embrapa Bean and Rice, "We had the opportunity to test the NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution in order to assess the feasibility for marker-assisted breeding in rice. The technology delivered excellent data and NEB delivered exceptional support and follow-up."

Other features of the product include:

• Optimized bait design captures both DNA strands
• Highly specific enrichment, >90 percent of reads mapping to targets
• Coverage uniformity to avoid over and under-representation with fewer reads
• Similar performance across DNA from crude and high-quality based extraction procedures

In addition to applications in agricultural biology, the technology can be applied in other areas where lower costs and higher throughput are necessities. Adding sample barcodes and pooling the samples early in the process significantly reduces the number of protocol steps, renders the approach attractive for uses in human and animal genotyping, including opportunities for biobanking, sample quality control for NGS, and other applications in human health and livestock breeding.

For more information on the NEBNext Direct Genotyping Solution, please visit NEBNextDirect.com.

About New England Biolabs

Established in the mid 1970's, New England Biolabs, Inc. is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, library preparation for next generation sequencing, cellular analysis, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and eight subsidiaries located in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs visit www.neb.com.